Six Chemical Classes

I really enjoyed watching Green Chemical Policy Institute's video series on the six chemical classes approach. It was very informative and well done. I chose to further look into phthalates. Using Biomonitoring California's Phthalates Fact Sheet, I learned that phthalates are found in a variety of products that most people use daily. These include: school lunchboxes, backpacks, food packaging and containers, gloves, fragrances (perfume, lotion, deodorants, etc.), nail polish, and medications among other things. Phthalates can disrupt hormones, fetal, infant, and child development, and decrease fertility. The CDC found 13 phthalate metabolites in the urine of participants in 2003-2004 NHANES. They found that phthalates exposure is widespread in the U.S., which is not surprising considering all the items that phthalates are present in, some of which are listed above. To add, adult women have higher levels of phthalate metabolites in their urine than men. According to Green Chemical Policy Institute, to limit exposure to harmful phthalates, one can use glass food containers, avoid plastics with recycle codes 3 to 7, eat less canned and packaged foods, wash hands before eating and drinking, and opt for fragrance-free personal care products.